Monthly Archives: April 2016

Bishop Rimbo, from the New York Metropolitan Synod of the ELCA, was invited to address the ACCEPTS (supportive of GLBTIQ members of the LCA) conference, held at Immanuel Lutheran College, Novar Gardens, South Australia. The address was an hour long so the following text is a huge document. You will find, however, that the theology is sensible, caring and profound. Such theology is long overdue in the LCA.

While women’s ordination in the LCA is inevitable, the acceptance and embrace of GLBTIQ members will be slower. This conference was an important first public step towards that goal.

Bishop Rimbo, from the Metropolitan New York Synod, ELCA

The Radical Acceptance of the Gospel

Introduction and Assumption

Iamhumbledbyandgratefulforyourinvitationandforthegraciouswords of introduction. I am particularly thankful for Kristine Gebbie and Lester Wright, dear friends, who were extraordinarily faithful worshippers at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City where I was pastor for an all-too-brief time before being elected Bishop of the Metropolitan New York Synod.

I want, also, to introduce my dear spouse Lois whom I had to force to come with me to Australia. We’ve been obsessing on you, reading about you, and delighting in this country and continent. Lois has been a faithful companion and partner for over forty years and I hope you have the opportunity to meet her today.

I want to speak to you today about four things, get you a bit agitated about the Radical Acceptance of the Gospel and perhaps allow some time for questions and reactions. If that doesn’t happen in this hour-or-so, be assured that I will be available to you all day and into this evening. Since Lois and I are relying on Kristine and Les for transportation!

Under the Theme: The Radical Acceptance of the Gospel I will first, briefly, describe what I mean by that word “radical.” Then, I will outline my understanding of Lutheran Hermeneutics – that is, how Lutherans read the Bible. Third, I will share some experience from my own life and that of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America which led to the 2009 Churchwide Assembly votes to be radically welcoming – at least officially; you must know that it is not universally true for us – New York City is not Fargo. And then I want to share a particular passage from Scripture which I think should have great, radical meaning for all of us.

Let me share an assumption which you may reject but you are stuck with because I’ve already written my paper.

I think there are peopleinthisroom in deep need of the Gospel. In fact, I know it because we all are, all the time, the insiders and the outsiders. So I wanttosayat the outset, as a card-carrying, creed-believing, confessional Lutheran who is an insider par excellence – a bishop, for heaven’s sake – I want to sayhowthankfultoGodIamforyou and for your continuing,unfailingwitnesstotheChurch and your deep desire to be accepting of all people..TheChurch–andbythatwordImean thewholething with an upper-case C,has developedabadhabitoftalkingaboutlesbian,gay,bisexualandtrans-gender peopleasiftheyareaproblem.Soletmesaythattheyarenot. Quitetheopposite:theyhaveprovided the Church withenlightenment,witheye-opening andlife-changingexamplesofChristiancourageandgrace,andwithmodelsof howtolivetheChristianlifeunderadverseconditions. The Church’s policies and practice – and again, be clear, I’m talking about the capital-C-Church – have been restrictive and exclusive to the point of cruelty. We have told many people who want to give their lives to Christ and the witness of the Church, including the willingness to devote their lives to service as ordained pastors, that they cannot. Their choices or their lifestyle or even the way God has made them are so wrong that we’ve had to erect special barriers to keep them from serving.

Yet,heretheyare,activeoreager-to-be-activeinthe fulllifeoftheChurch,if onlywe were a welcome place, ifonlywewerereally accepting. They keeponwitnessingtothetruthofChristin their lives. They keep onofferinghelpthattheChurchdesperatelyneedsbutistooproudortoostubborn toaccept. They keeponministering,with us, to people who havethe approvalandtheprivilegesthathavebeendeniedto them. We can learn to be accepting. So that’s my goal for this address.

Radical

First, that troublesome word “radical.” At least it is troublesome to some folks. I was born in 1950. I’ll give you a few moments to do the math on that. I grew up in the State of Illinois in the flat middle of the United States. We defined ourselves – perhaps you know what I mean – we defined ourselves by what we were not. Not Black, not Mexican, not queer, not Catholic (heaven forbid), not…well, you know what I mean. And certainly not radical. We were good, decent folks there in Lemont, Illinois.

Now that you’ve done your math, you must realize that I grew up in the turbulent 60s. Were they turbulent here, too? And it was in the 60s that I came to know that the word radical has a deeper meaning, from the Latin word for root – which makes it a very good word for us when talking about the foundation of our faith, the root of our tree of beliefs as Christians, the Good News of God reconciling the world through Jesus, the Gospel.

So now I turn to talking about that radical Gospel and how it drives our efforts to be accepting of all people, especially as Lutherans.

Lutheran Hermeneutics

How you read the Bible is always glued to how you think people “get saved.” I think this is a most Luther-an understanding. There are many quotes from Martin Luther to this effect, of which I share only two:

From one of his famous Table Talks: “When I discovered the difference, that God’s Law is one thing and God’s Gospel something else – that was the breakthrough.”

And from his Commentary on Galatians: “I must listen to the Gospel. It tells me not what I must do but what Jesus Christ the Son of God has done for me.”

This radical, fundamental understanding of truth, where the Gospel, the Good News of God’s rescuing all of us through Jesus Christ, is the lens through which we read all of Scripture. It is what gives authority to the Bible because the first and most important definition of the term Word of God is Jesus Christ and him crucified and risen.

So, I want, now, to speak a bit about how Lutherans interpret the Scriptures. What is our hermeneutic.

Lutherans interpret scripture contextually.

We ask about the literary context of the book in which any Scripture passage is found. We ask about the historical context of the situation the passages were intended to address. The biblical perspective on sexuality is decidedly heterosexual. That is not arguable. But how is that perspective to be viewed given our modern understanding of homosexuality?

Lutherans interpret scripture by principle of analogy.

We ask whether situations in the modern world are analogous to those in the biblical world – even if they are not exactly the same. Old and New Testament passages focus on questionable sexual practices which scripture describes as “unnatural.” Given a growing consensus on the nature of sexual orientation, are such practices to be considered “unnatural” for other orientations? Do prescriptive passages apply to these two orientations in the same way? Can they? Should they?

Lutherans interpret scripture in light of scripture.

We try to reconcile what is said in one part of scripture with wat is said in other parts of scripture, so that we can be faithful to the entire Bible.

Lutherans believe in “a canon within the canon.”

We believe that some things in scripture are more important than other things. Jesus gives us principles for determining what is the most important. We believe that Jesus has given the Church the authority to determine which commandments in the Bible apply to us today and which do not. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19) and it’s similar passage in Matthew 18:18 – “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 18:18)

We exercise this authority responsibly when we follow the guidelines Jesus has given: God prefers mercy to sacrifice (Matthew 9:13; 12:6). The greatest commandment is to love God with one’s whole being, and the second is to love one’s neighbor as oneself (Matthew 22:24-40). We are to do unto others as we would have them do unto us (Matthew 7:12). The weightier matters of the law are justice, mercy, and faithfulness (Matthew 23:23).

There are very few references to homosexual behavior in the Bible; and no references to homosexuality. The Bible speaks nine times more frequently about how we relate to money than on how we relate to sexuality. As an issue or practice it was of minor concern.

What does our being reconciled to God through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit mean for us? How radical is that gospel? AsIhaveindicated before,itisinteresting,inthecontext ofoursocietyandinachurchwhichis rightfullyconcernedaboutthestateofmarriage,wehardlyspendanytimetalking aboutthemuchmorestrenuousJesus-of-the-gospelstricturesagainstdivorce. Ihearpeopleinthehomosexualcommunityweepwhentheytalkaboutthe portrayalsthatdemeanthequalityoftheircovenantedrelationships.

I hear gay and lesbian people speakwithfarmoreclarityabouttheirlifeinChristthandothosewhodonothavetodefendtheirveryidentity.

Letmebeclearandbold:Ihavediscoveredthatthereis nothingintheBiblethatspeaksclearlyanddirectlytothissetofissues.There’s somestuffaboutprostitution,pedophilia,abusiverelationships,butthereis nothingabouthomosexualityoraboutthefaithful,committedrelationshipsin whichmanyconfessorsofChristfindthemselvestoday.I have struggledwithourLutheran confessionalwritingsand have dug deepintoLuther’sworksandlearnedthatthereis greatfreedominourcommunionandthatwearecalledtoerronthesideofgrace atanycost.I have heardthevoicesofChristiansinotherpartsoftheChurch.Butmost importantly,I havespokenwithscoresofgayandlesbianpeople and more recently with transgender and bisexualpeople andI havefoundthemto be,first,followersofChrist.AndIwouldsaytoyouthatitwasinthese conversationsthatIdiscoveredthebroad,high,anddeepmeaningof what I claim is the theological bottom line of the radical acceptance of the Gospel.

When Lois and I were married 42 years ago and again when oursonandhiswifeweremarried,thewonderfulpartwasnotthesigningofalegaldocument,butthe thanksgivingtoGodinwhichallofusengaged.Thechurchshouldofferthatkind ofeventtoeverycouple,homosexualorheterosexual,andgetoutofwhatis,in theopinionofmany,thepracticeofmarryingonlysomeand extendingathousand-plus benefitstothoseelectheterosexuals.I’mstillworking onthis,soletmepursuethisabitbytalkingabout“Blessing.”

Those who seek biblical warrant for such inclusiveness need only look, for example, to the encounter between Jesus and the Woman at the Well in John 4, where he breaks all kinds of rules in order to offer her new life, or at the amazing story of Jesus’s healing the man born blind in John 9, awonderfultextthataskstheimportantquestion“WhatglorifiesGod?” It’s agreatreadingforus.Ialsothinktheraisingof Lazarusis splendid.InJohn11–well,youknowthestory:Jesusraiseshisstinkyfriendfrom thedeadandthenturnstothecrowdandsays,“Youunbindhim.”Ithinkthat’s a greatmodelforus:whenGodraisespeoplefromthedeadthroughthewonderful mysteryofHolyBaptismthenit’suptothechurchtounbindthem.AndthatLazarusstorybringsmetothebottomlineforme,theologically.

HolyBaptism is the most radical acceptance we offer, especially the practice of baptizing infants. This is, inmyopinion andIbelieveinLutheranism’sconfessional understanding,thetheologicalbottom line.It’stheriskiest, most radicalthingtheChurchdoes:baptize.

If you are seeking clear words from God about what it means to engage in this Radical Acceptance, let me suggest theSermonontheMount in St. Matthew’s Gospel,whereJesusinvitesus,urgesus,tostandonourheadsandseetheworld,oursociety,individuallivesandtheChurchfromthatChrist-likeperspective.IthinkoftheamazingwordsoftheBeatitudesasbothchallengeand opportunityforthoseofuswhoareprivilegedtostand-with-Jesus-on-our–heads,forallofus whohavebeengathered here today andforthethousandswerepresent.AndasIthinkofthesewordsIalsowanttoseethemclearlyaschallengestous,invitations for this day andforalifetime,tocontinuetostandonourheads,tocontinuethisriskybusinessofbeingtheChurch.

IwishIcouldsaythatIknewofaChurchsomewhereintheworldthathad fullygraspedthisstrangeagendaofJesusandwaslivingbyit.NoparishIhave servedhas,norhastheEvangelical LutheranChurchinAmerica,norhaveI,norhaveyou.Buttherearesignstogive ushope.TherearemomentswhenIthinktheReignofGodisnearerthanwhenwe firstbelieved.AndIrejoicetosaythat the efforts being engaged by Accept and organizations such as this havebeenmodelsofthiskindofspirituallife,thisnewlifeinthenewcreation ofthenewhumanityworkedthroughJesusChrist.WearenotwhatGodwantsus tobe,yet.Butweareontheway.SoI am,onceagain,mostgratefulforyourtrust towardmeandforyourinvitation.AndwhileIcannotspeakfortheEvangelical LutheranChurchinAmerica,orforitsConferenceofBishops,orforthe Metropolitan New York Synod of which I am bishop,Icanspeakformyselfaboutmyhopeforallofus, for thisnewcreationinChrist.Iwantto invite you to strive for accepting all people and to remain faithful and diligent in engaging The Radical Welcome of the Gospel.

Closure

InclosingIwanttosayagainhowgratefulIamforyourfaithfulness,your strength,yourgrace–filledliving. As a Lutheran I feel compelled to offer at least a small word from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans as a kind of summary of what God is calling us to do; “MaytheGodofsteadfastness andencouragementgrantyou toliveinharmonywithoneanother,inaccordancewithChristJesus,sothat togetheryoumaywithonevoice glorifytheGodandFatherofourLordJesus Christ.Welcomeoneanother,therefore,justasChristhaswelcomedyou,forthe gloryofGod.”(Romans 15)

FriendsinChrist,mayGodfillusandallGod’sPeople, always with the welcoming love of Christ, TheRadical Acceptance of the Gospel.